Episode 204 – Hot to Trot Bots | Games At Work dot Biz

Michael and Michael make a rare recording appearance at their favorite coffee shop, Bean Traders, in Durham, NC, to talk about coffee, robot dogs, and much more.

This week’s episode is fueled by discussions on artificial intelligence, machine learning, power storage & delivery, as well as the future use cases for bots both big & small. Kicking things off with Dominic Tan’s Domo Arigato poster with 262 robots, Michael & Michael then move on to the physical robots, starting with a robotic arm with a dodecahedron grasping mechanism, designed to capture delicate undersea creatures, like jellyfish. Continuing on with the aquatic robotic theme, the tiny DARPA SHRIMP robots, which stands for SHort-Range Independent Microrobotic Platforms, comes into focus. Michael & Michael harken back to earlier discussions on swarming technology (Episode 150), cloud processing, and power, as well as imagine use cases involving the dodecahedron grasping mechanism for ocean environmental cleanup, among others.

Moving to more terrestrial robotics, Michael R’s find on the Rolls-Royce SWARM robots spurs an interesting conversation on how such small robots could be injected into an engine for maintenance and repair. The platform provided by Boston Dynamics in the form of their SpotMini has a wide variety of possible use cases, and sufficient battery life.

Rounding out this week’s episode, the co-hosts discuss the Amazon AR Part Finder capability, where using a known reference object like a penny can help determine what size and type of screw, nut or bolt is needed without resorting to creating your own physical sizer. A video from Mirjana Kika Milosevic demonstrates how amazing visual effects are possible with simple makeup,

Selected Links

Bean Traders — https://beantraderscoffee.com

Gizmodo article: How Many Robots Can You Spot in This Awesome Poster? — https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-many-robots-can-you-spot-in-this-awesome-poster-1827635538

MIT Technology Review article: How to tell if you’re talking to a bot? — https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611655/how-to-tell-if-youre-talking-to-a-bot/

TechCrunch article: ‘Underwater Pokeball’ snatches up soft-bodied deep dwellers — https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/18/underwater-pokeball-snatches-up-soft-bodied-deep-dwellers/

Engadget article: DARPA’s insect-sized SHRIMP robots could aid disaster relief — https://www.engadget.com/2018/07/19/darpas-insect-sized-shrimp-robots-disaster-relief/

Discussion on Swarming robots in Episode 150 — Cyber Dementors — https://gamesatwork.biz/2016/10/23/episode-150-cyber-dementors/

ZDNet article: Meet the robot snake and bugs that will repair your car’s engine — https://www.zdnet.com/article/meet-the-snake-and-bug-robots-that-will-repair-your-cars-engine/

Rolls-Royce’s SWARM robots — https://www.rolls-royce.com/media/our-stories/insights/2018/swarm-robots.aspx

Saturday Night Live’s Ned’s Roach Away commercial —